YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

I've been trying to find statistics
regarding the percentage of men who shop for their own clothes.
I've heard that women do most of men's shopping. By one estimate,
women make 80 percent of men's apparel purchases. Is this true
today?
Carrie Williams
WCM
Seattle, Wash.

Dear Carrie:

It appears that men are taking more of a vested interest in
their wardrobe now than in years past. According to Cambridge,
Mass.-based apparel research firm STS Market Research, 69 percent
of men's casual sportswear (jeans, slacks, shorts, shirts,
sweaters, etc.) is purchased by men these days and only 31 percent
is purchased by women. A report released by Port Washington,
N.Y.-based research firm The NPD Group reveals similar —
albeit not identical — findings. According to NPD, men today
purchase a majority (53 percent) of men's casual sportswear
themselves and women buy the remaining 47 percent.

That's not to say that women are taking a back seat when it
comes to dressing their man. According to NPD, 37 percent of women
say they accompany their guy when he goes shopping for clothes,
regardless of who's buying. The latest data available from New York
City-based market research firm Mediamark Research, Inc. (MRI)
reveals that 34 percent of all adult women have made at least one
purchase from the men's department in the past year. Of course,
having a man to shop for significantly increases a gal's chance of
buying an item of men's apparel. In fact, 45 percent of married
women and 36 percent of women who are engaged say they bought men's
clothes last year, compared with just 25 percent of single
women.

Which items are the ladies most likely to pick up for their guy?
According to MRI, underwear and socks top the list of men's apparel
items that women buy. At least 1 in 6 women (17 percent) claims to
have bought men's underwear in the past year, and 16 percent say
they have bought men's socks. Other commonly purchased items
include jeans (15 percent), dress shirts (11 percent), casual
slacks (11 percent) and belts (7 percent).

Of course, many men are capable of returning the favor. MRI
reports that 16 percent of men have purchased some sort of women's
apparel in the past year. As with the ladies, married and engaged
men are the most likely to pick up a little something for the
missus: 20 percent of engaged men and 19 percent of married men say
they have bought an item of women's clothing in the past year.

Give those Victoria's Secret models a raise: Bras and underpants
are among the most common women's apparel items purchased by men
— 6 percent and 8 percent, respectively. Of course, buying a
woman a fancy dress is also a nice gesture. In the past year, 6
percent of men say they have bought a woman's dress. However, the
exact percentage of those dresses that were subsequently returned
to the store is a mystery.

SEX AND THE CITY

To the Editors ofAmerican Demographics:

Recently, a few single girlfriends and I had a conversation
about the demo-graphics of New York City. We were guessing how many
men versus women there were in New York, single versus married,
homosexuals versus heterosexuals. To me, it appears there are twice
as many women in this city than men. But rather than guessing, I
thought I'd take this to a higher authority:American
Demographics. How does New York City's population break
down? When it comes to gender and unattached singles, is there a
level playing field?
Kate Moses
Hoboken, N.J.

Dear Kate:

Don't put away your dance card just yet, because it turns out
that there are plenty of single men in New York City to go
around.

According to the latest figures from the U.S. Census Bureau,
there are an estimated 1.5 million unmarried (single, widowed,
divorced or separated) men in New York City and 2 million unmarried
women. Granted, there are more women than men (1.4 single females
for every single male), but it's a far cry from your estimated
2-to-1.

A person's age (and/or the ages of the men and women to whom he
or she is typically attracted) may improve the odds of landing a
mate — or make them worse. In the 20-to-34 age range, only 32
percent of the men and 36 percent of the women in New York City are
married. That means there are about 728,000 males and 724,000
females who are single. The odds are much less favorable for
singles looking to partner with someone between 35 and 54 years of
age: Fully 64 percent of the men and 56 percent of the women in
this age group are married.

But don't despair! There are still 465,000 New York men and
612,000 New York women between the ages of 35 and 54 who are not
legally wed. In the 55 and over cohort, it behooves you to be a
single male: There are almost three single women to every single
man in this age group. New York City is home to an estimated
679,000 unmarried women ages 55 and older and only 264,000
unmarried men.

Of course, we all know that just because a man or a woman isn't
wearing a wedding band doesn't mean he or she is not spoken for.
The Census Bureau reports that there are 134,818 heterosexual
couples in New York City who are living together but not legally
married. And there are 18,131 male gay couples living together and
12,730 cohabiting lesbians.

Speaking of gays and lesbians, you should know by now that New
York has a much higher concentration of homosexuals than most
places in the country. According to Census 2000, gay and lesbian
couples account for 0.9 percent of all households in Gotham. That's
about a third more than the nation as a whole: The bureau reports
gay and lesbian couples constitute just 0.6 percent of all U.S.
households.

Although there are no hard facts as to what the total gay
population is in New York, straight singles on the prowl would
increase their odds of finding a mate by avoiding neighborhoods
like Chelsea (the 10011 and 10001 ZIP codes in particular), the
West Village (10014), the Theater District (10036) and Greenwich
Village (10003) in Manhattan and the Park Slope-Boerum Hill section
of Brooklyn (11217). According to gaydemographics.org, these
neighborhoods are where the largest numbers of gay and lesbian
couples have set up home.

All this information about the singles scene in New York may not
necessarily increase your chances of finding a guy, but at the very
least you'll have something to talk about over lunch.

HONESTLY, IT'S FOR MY WIFE!

Men make up 13 percent of buyers of women's evening dresses,
while women make up 33 percent of buyers of men's casual
slacks.

WOMEN'S APPAREL

MEN

WOMEN

Parka

19%

81%

Fur coat, jacket or stole

18%

82%

Raincoat

17%

83%

Designer jeans

16%

84%

Nightwear

15%

85%

Blouse

14%

86%

Evening dress

13%

87%

Blazer

12%

88%

Skirt

12%

88%

Gloves

10%

90%

MEN'S APPAREL

Sweater

61%

39%

Swimsuit

64%

36%

Designer jeans

65%

35%

Casual slacks

67%

33%

Necktie

68%

32%

Ski jacket

69%

31%

Sports jacket

71%

29%

Belt

72%

28%

Overcoat

75%

25%

Business suit

76%

24%

Source: Mediamark Research, Inc.,
2002

WHAT'S HIS STORY?

New York City is the place to be if it's a young, never-married,
single man you want or a young, never-married single woman.

INDEX*

SINGLE MEN (NEVER MARRIED)

NYC

CHICAGO

DALLAS

LOS ANGELES

18-34

211

202

202

190

35-49

66

74

66

63

50-64

38

28

18

36

65+

28

25

11

17

MARRIED MEN

18-34

54

66

70

62

35-49

121

110

115

119

50-64

122

123

122

126

65+

119

122

166

128

SINGLE WOMEN (NEVER MARRIED)

18-34

224

217

208

207

35-49

71

76

74

67

50-64

43

37

23

47

65+

34

25

18

12

MARRIED WOMEN

18-34

72

76

87

78

35-49

121

125

110

122

50-64

116

116

116

108

65+

87

79

86

92

*The metro area average is 100. For
example, in New York City, a man between 18 and 34 years old is 111
percent more likely than the average New York City male to be
single and 46 percent less likely to have a wife.